Now a three-piece, Take That’s This Life tour is visiting UK arenas and stadia with audio design, equipment delivery and crew from hire company Skan, led by Tour Director Chris Vaughan and Production Manager Wez Wearing.

‘I must get the show to sound as close to the records possible – it’s what the fans expect,’ says FOH engineer, Gary Bradshaw. ‘With the live band, the arrangements are different, but the overall sound needs to be similar. Mike Stevens, our Musical Director, is very good at arranging the music, and the musicians are brilliant.’

Bradshaw has used DiGiCo desks since they came to market, this time an SD7 Quantum. 

‘There are some Waves plug-ins, but what’s changed on this tour is that the band, guitar wise, are doing a lot of their own FX processing and EQ. They’re using the Neural DSP Quad Cortex pedals and they have spent a long time editing the sounds of the guitars and the acoustics, so that all comes down the same input channel to me at FOH. The band then make the changes at their end.

‘I use a Waves dbx 160x compressor over the drum audio group, but I mainly use what’s in the DiGiCo desk – compression & EQ and keep it as simple as possible because the desk reacts so quickly and integrates seamlessly with my Waves.’

During the two-hour show, the tour takes a journey split across four sections. ‘Getting those cues right took a little bit of time.’ Bradshaw says. ‘But we had plenty of rehearsals to get it all right. The songs haven’t really changed but the audio links have. I have to really concentrate for the whole two hours.’

Skan’s Matt Vickers designed the show’s d&b audiotechnik rig: ‘The Take That team are long-serving professionals and understand that we have a job to deliver the music,’ he says. ‘They work with us from the outset to accommodate the PA elements into the show design.

‘All floor subs and fill speakers are hidden under the downstage edge, so we worked with the stage designers to fit in and around the structure. There is a rain effect at the start of the show, where gallons of water pour onto the downstage edge meaning the ground subs are sat in the catchment pool. We simply put larger wheels on the sub carts, and fitted their outdoor rain covers so they are unaffected. The flown arrays are more straightforward – the focus is to have clear airspace between the cabinets and the audience, and room for follow spot trusses, and aerial bridges to the B-stage.’

Once the positions are negotiated and agreed, Bradshaw hands the design over to the touring team and Matt ‘MBF’ Besford-Foster, for day-to-day optimising and tuning to suit each venue. ‘MBF ensures we cover every seat with equal tonality and audio quality, providing FOH engineer Gary with a blank canvas to mix the show and deliver the same experience to all fans.’

The flown system comprises GSL main hangs, KSL Side hangs and V Series rear hangs. On the floor, it’s J Subs and Y Series cabinets for front fill.

‘My main objective is making all of those different types of speakers sound like one big, natural sound source,’ says MBF, who notes the B Stage offers a chance to home in on the challenges they present. ‘I use a specific EQ for the part of the PA that covers the B Stage and punch this in when it’s in use. This really helps tackling any potential feedback and provides Gary with a solid system to mix on, regardless of what mics are in front of it. I also take care with the positioning of the 120° boxes within the arrays to ensure minimal summation in the areas that could become problematic.

‘The SL system’s cardioid characteristic helps keep the SPL down. It’s a team effort from the whole audio department – I rely on PA Techs Eddie O’Brien and Patrick Boyd, and we spend time getting everything right.’

‘This is a pleasure and a privilege to be a part of,’ says monitor engineer Becky Pell. ‘Chris Vaughan always does things to a very high standard and really looks after his crew. At stage left I’m working with unflappable Liam Tucker, Skan Crew Chief and Monitor Tech. His technical expertise is top-notch.’

‘For this tour, I have the Quantum 7. I have old-school outboard in a pair of Neve 5045s which are helpful for gently suppressing PA spill down the vocal mics when the guys are out on the B stage, but I don’t use any plug-ins – I find that the onboard Quantum features such as the Mustard processing do everything I need, and I like the Chilli and Naga processing in the Spice Rack for dynamically smoothing out any prominence in vocal frequencies.’

Skan has also supplied her requested Klang immersive IEM mixing technology: ‘I’ve used it on every tour I’ve done since 2018,’ she says. ‘I have a Klang DMI card in each DiGiCo engine, and a pair of Mac Minis with a touchscreen control and a switching unit, so that I only need one screen.’

Pell is serving up three artist mixes, six musician mixes, and a handful of tech and guest mixes, all on IEMs: ‘I listen extensively to the recorded version of songs ahead of time, and aim to reproduce that familiar mix, with the added benefit of the 3D audio space offered by Klang.

‘There’s a lot to love about this tour,’ she adds. ‘We’re well looked after, the band and crew are world-class, and I have excellent support from the Skan team. Their equipment is always beautifully prepped and packaged, their technical support and attention to detail is second to none, and their crew are a pleasure to work with.

The tour finishes in Japan toward the end of the year, with audio overseen by Skan’s Chris Fitch.